All FWRC repeaters (with the exception of D-STAR) will have a (141.3 Hz) tone on their outputs. (This applies to the 146.940 machine when operating in the analog-FM mode).

The 146.940 machine (when operating in the analog-FM mode) and the 444.875 machine, will always require an input tone (141.3 HZ) in order to access them.

The 146.760 and 146.910 machines will not normally require a tone on their inputs to access them. However, if conditions exist such that either machine is being tripped due to unusual propagation, or other causes, it will be possible for the club to implement a (141.3 Hz) input tone requirement, on a temporary basis, in order to allow user access to these two machines.

The D-STAR machine (442.99375 MHz) has no requirement for a tone on its input.

Joining FWRC or renewing your membership is easy! Just download the application form (Acrobat Reader required), fill it out and follow the submission instructions on the form. If you wish, you can even fill out the form on your computer before you print it! Not sure if your dues are paid up? Check out the online club roster.

Many members of the Fort Wayne Radio Club participate in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES), which consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes.

Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization, is eligible to apply for membership in ARES. Training may be required or desired to participate fully in ARES. Because ARES is an Amateur Radio service, only licensed radio amateurs are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership.

At the local (county) level, ARES is led by emergency coodinators, who are appointed by the ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator. As of January, 2011, the Allen County emergency coordinator is Jim Moehring, KB9WWM. He can be reached via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To join Allen County ARES, download this form, print it out, complete it and mail it to Jim at

One afternoon, we noticed that 146.76/.16 MHz machine was timed out and thus unusable. It was timed out because there was a continuous unmodulated signal on the (146.160 MHz) input (we think from somebody's stuck-on transmitter) which caused the 146.76 controller to do its thing and shut down the output.

Jim Pliett, K9OMA was able to detect the signal on the input using a pair of phased yagis at the top of his tower at his QTH up near Churubusco, and he was able to get a solid bearing on the source which pointed down through the center of Ft. Wayne. We wanted to get a few more bearings from other hams in the area so that we could radio direction find (RDF), i.e., triangulate the source and localize it. I was frustrated to realize that we didn't know who else in the area were set up with rotatable yagis on their towers.

As a result of this experience Jim and I decided to organize a cadre of hams in the Ft. Wayne/Allen County area who had the appropriate equipment at their QTH that would allow us to RDF a signal source should a similar problem arise in the future. So I'm requesting volunteers who would be willing to serve on an RDF team.

The idea of the RDF team is to have at hand a list of local hams who we can call when necessary and have them take a bearing on a problem signal source and report the bearing to me, or Jim, (or whoever is acting as the RDF coordinator). With sufficient cross bearings we can then localize the source of the signal and subsequently find it's exact location just like we do when we Foxhunt.

So if you're willing to participate as a member of the proposed RDF team, I need the following information:

Name.

Call.

Address.

Telephone Number.

Type of antenna (model number or band(s), i.e. vhf,uhf, number of elements).

Times of day when you are typically available and would be able to participate including weekends if availability is different from that on weekdays.

Once we have a list of participants we would plan to run a few tests, probably coordinating on the 146.76 machine where we would have folks bring a test signal up from known location(s) and have everyone on the team take a bearing on it and report said bearing to the coordinator. That would give us practice taking bearings and transferring data, and would also give us the opportunity to calibrate the bearing readings on each team member's system thus allowing us to compensate for bore-sighting errors.